Sunday drive with Gojiras

Having working in a pressure cooker environment, I need to have stress detention activities and sunday drive is one of them. So having being invited by Temujin for GTJ drive with the Skyline boys, it would be stupid to say no. And yet I used visiting to inlaw’s place as an excuse for early drive on Ulu Yam’s road the day before.

So this morning around 7am-ish, familiar figures are geared and set for the drive - 2 BNR34 GTRs, 2 ER34s, 1 BCNR33 GTR, 1 ER33, 1 BNR32 GTR, 1 DC5R and a puny Pocong. But we’re missing Blood Red’s ER34 as he chooses to have shotgun ride in DC5R.

Being the lead driver, I had to set up a good pace for these guys and having matte black BNR34 GTR breathing behind my neck, I was kinda pushing the Polo as well. Surprisingly, the RE001 tyres behaving a bit better than before but being overhyped tyre, they’re on boiling point on the second half of the drive giving boring understeery ride.

Nevertheless, it was a good pace for everyone. What I need know is FMIC, custom exhaust and open pod intake and better tyres *hint*hint* RSR…. But before that Pocong needs to get its timing belt replaced. Money money money .... where are you??? Oh yes, I’ve also attached couple of images and a video for you folks.

Being the earliest to reach the RV point

There you go ... in between monstrous machines lies one puny Pocong

Ketua Darjah trying Temujin's new loceng clutch

Not ideal but can give some glimpse of how fun it is

New rims & tyres shakedown

The reasons I opted to upsize an inch up on the Pocong is merely trying to get more steering sharpness and a kind of retaliation for Federal RSR 205/45/16 prices that soared from RM350 all the way to RM440 per piece. And having Ah Tee of HupShun Sunway played his party peace of manhandling the calculator played significant role too.

The plan to save tyre replacement expenses on short and long term is going well too when he offered me grippy and ‘potong air’ Bridgestone Potenza RE001 Adrenalin 205/40/17 at RM380 per piece. But 205/40/17 is a tad too narrow for my liking and that have got me insisted on 215/40/17 and boy oh boy the price of that size from the same brand and type is almost RM100 dearer per piece due to the fact that it’s made in Japan and kind of odd size too. Having a long day from attending a long boring meeting between different government agencies and prepping up for conference made me kept my eyes closed and let the magic card to its work.

The end result of this so called engineering enhancement has become a little bit of nuisance I must admit. Even though the SA70 is a lot lighter than BBS buttercups, because of higher rotational mass, I felt somewhere between 5-10% laziness of getting more GGGG from acceleration and it rides 100% a lot firmer than what some Fiesta owners complaining of a harsh ride from their ride. That’s not all, the RE001 Adrenalin has a wee bit softly sprung sidewalls and that’s NOT GOOD AT ALL!

Having finished up done a presentation to GIS professionals and academicians in the user conference held last week, I’ve decided to do shakedown test on how this new setup would be doing using our very own ‘Nordschleife’ – Batu Caves - Ulu Yam – Batang Kali - Genting route today! But before starting to gunning it out, a quick stop to Shell to dial 36psi front & 34psi rear and I accidentally pour in Shell V-Power Racing retailing RM2.70!

Just after turning right towards Jalan Sungai Tua, I gave the Pocong a quick spanking, flat 2nd and 3rd averaging 100-120kmh left-right-left uphill turns and immediately I feels the grip traction is a wee bit nervous and greasy on turn in. Then after passing rest area on my left doing circa 140ish downshift from 5th to 3rd immediately the car went being nervous again this time the rear end getting a wee bit too naughty then only start grip around 70-80 through tight sequence of turns. I’m not sure whether 36/34 psi combination a bit too much for the tyres or the moulding compound still yet to torn out from this donuts.

On the bright side, the steering on the other hands feels almost as good as Federal 595 RSR with lesser flexing throughout the turn. Getting on song with the uphill long sweepers at high speed is surprisingly easy and stable but I must admit a bit bouncy and droningly noisy on uneven surface. There’s also not so noticeable difference in terms of GGG running 17” which is about 2.5% bigger overall diameter radius than stock but the Pocong will get lazy on lower speeds because of the bigger mass inertia.

Upon reaching Batang Kali and line up Pocong for uphill tight twisties, again the turn-in feels nervous then only starting to provide good grip throughout the turns. Not as brilliant as RSR but good nevertheless. And because of an inch up on the rims, the mid corner grip is very good. Just like the MCS, I can almost mesh the throttle out of the corner. Great! And reaching the multiple speed bumps, the car doesn’t need to crawl like turtle to avoid getting bottom up.

That is about some comments I've so far on the tyres on fast road driving but I will try further pushing it once I found the right balance. I’m pretty content with this RE001 but it’s not the sort of tyres that can be in the same league as RSR, AD08 in the enthusiasts/track ready level. Having said that, I’m thinking it would last longer and a bit more friendly when going through standing water on the roads. On another note, I need more power... time to start thinking on new intake, exhaust, fmic and perhaps Shrick cams. As for my tyre preference?? Still RSR!! No question about it!

RM2.70/litre...sekali sekala tak apa la

I would be more pressing you harder on you next time!

In goes 17" Wedsport SA70

The inevitable happened this afternoon when one of the tyres had punctured on my way from Putrajaya towards my office. After a quick fix by the road side, I went to Hup Soon Sunway and end up with this Wedsport SA70 with 215/40/17 Bridgestone Potenza RE001 Adrenalin. At the moment, I'm pretty dismayed by the lateral grip of this jambatan batu ..... if things really goes south I'm going to trade these for RSR!! Having said that, now I'm officially broke :(

Goodbye buttercups rims

It fills the gap better than 16"

Have to do something of the center caps which got it FOC... people would be think it's a ASPAL (Asli Palsu) hahaha

Grooming session part 3

Happy Chinese New Year everyone :)

It has been exactly a year since Pocong received last grooming session and tendency of getting bird droppings almost on alternate days basis, the paintwork has been unrelentingly oxidized and dull. Realising this, I just bought myself a Black & Decker WP900 polisher, extra pad sets and other grooming goodies for today’s slaving activity together with my brother for his new Fiesta. And after five hours of slaving and 3 sets of torn pads, wet shinning glossy surface is back with the Pocong! And yeah I’m tired as hell!

Not as powerful as I'd have imagine

Can't deny the convenience though

Just applied tar remover on the lower half of the car

Damn, this was my last pad!

RM300 expenditure plus 5 hours of slaving is more expensive than sending it to detailing shop

My brother was on Kit Wax, as expected the shines is good but won't last long. And he still hasn't pass me the keys for testing...double bummer!

Almost but didn't materialized

I’ve to confess, I’m a sucker for SSR Type C rims and getting up 1” bigger could and should give a wee bit better feel to the car. A week back with salary routinely transferred in, my fingers got unusually itch. Dropped in Hup Soon Sunway quite early on Saturday morning, I’ve decided to go for cheapskate way by getting myself a replica with norm 205/40/17 Bridgestone RE001 Adrenalin. But unfortunately, one rim of that replica is having unusually wide width and because they only carry one set, I had to postpone this silly upgrade. In the meantime, I need to study if 215/40/17 can fit without scrapping the fenders.

New shoes for Pocong ... almost anyway!

205/40/17 is too narrow for my eyes

This one (above) is the culprit!

Almost being a Bridgestone convert .... hahaha